Soderbergh movie set to begin filming in Dublin

Knockout features an A-list cast including Ewan McGregor (pictured) and Michael Fassbender.

Parts of the movie will be filmed in Dublin city centre and will include rooftop chases and fights.

Produced by Gregory Jacobs and Relativity Media in co-operation with Irish company Parallel Films (Perrier's Bounty, Intermission, Breakfast on Pluto, The Clinic), with funding from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, filming for Knockout will begin on 2 February and will last for three weeks.

The spy thriller tells the story of Mallory Kane, a freelance covert operative played by US mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, who is hired out by her handler to various global entities to perform jobs which governments can't authorise and heads of state would rather not know about.

After a mission to rescue a hostage in Barcelona, Mallory is quickly dispatched on another to Dublin where she partners up with another operative. But the operation goes awry as Mallory is double crossed, and she must use all her skills to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the US, protect her family, and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her. 

Fassbender will play a member of Mallory’s commando spy unit, while McGregor is set to play the owner of the private military company who Mallory works for.

Carano has no acting experience but is well-known in the US as a kick boxer and a star of the US version of Gladiators.

Speaking on RTE Radio’s Morning Ireland programme today, the Irish producer of Knockout Alan Moloney said the decision to locate part of the film in Dublin was in order to bring something fresh to the screen as movie audiences are so used to seeing the likes of London and Paris immortalised in celluloid.

Moloney also said it was his suspicion that Knockout would become a franchise as there is a question mark at the end of the movie that leaves it open for another instalment.

The US actors Michael Douglas and Dennis Quaid are also rumoured to be involved in the project. Moloney said he was “hopeful and optimistic” of their participation.

The movie will be shot in or around the Dublin 2 area including Grafton Street and The Shelbourne Hotel. Parts of it will also be shot at Ardmore Studios in Co Wicklow.

Scenes for Knockout will also be filmed on location in New Mexico, Turkey and Barcelona.

The project will also provide in excess of 100 Irish jobs with key Irish cast and crew working alongside international crew on the feature.

Award-winning Irish composer David Holmes is also attached to the project.

Welcoming today's announcement, Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism said: "I am delighted this new international feature will begin shooting in Ireland next month.  We welcome international actors Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender and Gina Carano as they begin filming in Dublin and Wicklow. I am also particularly pleased that over 100 film industry jobs will be created for Irish cast and crew.

“Knockout will give a great boost not only to the Irish audiovisual industry but to the Irish economy in general,” he added.

^{Photo - Nico Genin}